I'm aging.

In less than a week, I'll be celebrating my last twenty-something birthday. Monday is my 29th.

My twenties were not the same as most people's twenties. I got married at the age of 20 (but would have done it at 19 if I could have), bought my first house at 22, had my first baby at 23, had my second (and last) baby at 25. I've had a bunch of different jobs at a bunch of different companies (but I appear to have settled down now). I've taken college classes but not graduated. I've learned countless things and gone countless places, including Canada later this year.

What new stuff can possibly await me in my thirties?

I'm finished having children, so now it's just a matter of watching them grow. I've got more places to go (Scotland is on the table for the summer after my 30th birthday), and, presumably, more things to learn. I've got a few goals for my thirties as well: 1) lose 140 pounds. Hopefully, I'll have the Lap-Band to help me out with that. 2) Run a marathon. 3) Get a business plan (and capital!) together for the bookstore I want to own one day and 4) Get out of debt. Pay off the house, everything. Get the money together for my kids' college.


On the morning of my 25th birthday, my brother (who is five years younger) called me. He said: "Happy birthday! Did you hold your hands up over your head when you woke up this morning and yell 'WHEEEEEE!!'??"

Confused, I said "What?!"

"This morning, you started the downward slope of your twenties. It's alllll downhill from here."

Next year, I'll be 30 - he'll be 25. You can bet I'm going to call him first thing that morning and ask him that same exact question. For me, I will have just changed rollercoasters.